


Lord of Iridium Tower

by rakketyrivertam



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Backstory, Canon Past Slavery, Feels, Gen, Light Angst, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Spike, if canon does not spark joy, it gets yeeted out the window
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:03:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21761350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rakketyrivertam/pseuds/rakketyrivertam
Summary: "Why does everyone hate Mirage?"
Relationships: Hound/Mirage, Minibots & Spike Witwicky, Mirage & Spike Witwicky
Comments: 4
Kudos: 83





	Lord of Iridium Tower

**Author's Note:**

> I totally did not mean to imply that Brawn is Mirage's creator at the end, but the possibility hit me after I wrote it and now I can't unsee it. (This makes Windcharger Mirage's stepdad.)
> 
> Also, Spike is totally and completely oblivious to all the gay happening right in front of his nose. Meanwhile, all the Autobots are wondering when he and Chip are going to start courting.

Spike watched as different Autobots moved around the rec room. Beside him, Bumblebee laughed uproariously at something one of the other minibots had said.

"Hey, Spike," Windcharger called. "Everything alright?"

"Huh?" Spike shook his head and turned back to the conversation.

Windcharger gestured across the room. "You've been staring at Mirage for the last five minutes. Did he say something to you?"

Cliffjumper jumped to his feet, Gears beside him. "We'll set him straight if he did!"

"What?!" Spike yelped.

Brawn and Huffer grabbed the two by their arms and yanked them back into their seats. "Sit down! Before you cause a scene!"

"He didn't say anything," Spike promised. "He's been nothing but nice to me since you all landed on Earth. Why does everyone hate him so much?"

Gears snorted. "He's from the Towers."

Spike glanced at Bumblebee, but his friend and cultural liaison seemed more uncomfortable than willing to provide guidance. "So he's from a bad part of Cybertron, so what?"

Cliffjumper laughed, long and bitter, and raised his voice. "Did you hear what he said? The Towers - a bad part of Cybertron! Hah!" He stood and bowed in Mirage's direction. "All hail the Lord of Iridium Tower, how terrible his lot!"

Mirage sank in his seat and the others in the room looked away.

Huffer grabbed Cliffjumper by the arm and dragged him out into the hallway.

"Mirage is a lord?" Spike asked.

Windcharger nodded. "Only because the rest of his family is dead," he explained, casting a sharp look in Gears' direction. "And he wanted to renounce the title, but Prowl won't let him. When the war ends - if the war ends - Optimus will need his political support."

Spike looked around the table. "That still doesn't explain why everyone hates him."

"The nobles of Iacon started as slave traders," Bumblebee said. "And they never really stopped, they just used terms like 'employee with wages garnished for room and board' like Brawn instead, or 'indentured servants' like Cliffjumper's creators."

Spike glanced at the noble in the corner, who looked exactly half a second from engaging his electro-disruptor and turning invisible. "Did Mirage own slaves? If he wanted to recounce his title, it seems like he at least didn't condone it."

"He still benefited from it," Gears grumbled. "And if he was so uncomfortable about it, why didn't he change it?"

"To answer the questions you asked," Windcharger said, "we don't know."

"Do you know anything about Mirage personally?" Spike asked. "I mean, beside his title."

Windcharger and Bumblebee shared a look with Brawn and Gears grumbled something unintelligible into his energon cube.

Spike nodded firmly and climbed down from the minibots' table.

"Wait - where are you going?" Bumblebee asked.

Spike turned and put his hands on his hips. "To ask him."

He darted through the room to Mirages side and gave him shin a friendly pat. "So," he said, once he had the noble's attention, "what's the real story?"

Mirage blinked in shock. "You - you really want to know?"

"Well, yeah," Spike said. "All I'm hearing so far is a bunch of conjecture."

Mirage gave a tight smile and stared into his drink. "I was born the fourteenth bastard of a minor baron, the fourth cousin twice removed of the actual ruling Tower Lord, or something like that."

"So you had thirteen older siblings?" Spike asked, eyes wide.

"Officially, I had sixteen older half-siblings and seven younger," Mirage said. "Unofficially, I most likely had much more."

"Wow," Spike mouthed.

"But I didn't actually know any of them," Mirage continued. "I knew who Gild and Scrollwork were, of course, and Dodeca when she came along, as well. I might occasionally run into them in the halls. But other than that and the occasional gift to keep up appearances, I had no contact with my sire's family other than working in their home."

"What kind of gifts?" Spike asked.

Mirage shrugged. "Hunting rights, weapons - under strict supervision, of course - and the like. They were absolutely useless to me without a day off, which he gifted very rarely." He paused, staring off into the distance. "He gifted me a servant only once, and it was a bit of politics to keep Gild in line." He smiled. "That was how I met Hound. He and his creators were responsible for looking after the turbohounds kept by tower residents for hunting purposed. The baron gave me two such turbohounds and Hound to look after them. Hound and I became close friends - as close as two people can get in those circumstances. So when Gild acted out again, and the baron was in a generous mood, I begged for Hound's creators as well. Then I let them all go. It was quite the scandal, and I was punished severely."

"How punished is 'punished severely'?" Spike asked.

Mirage shuddered. "Lashes. Fifty. After that, I fell out of what little favor I'd had. It was only the very public nature of the scandal that kept me from being homeless. Instead, I kept my head down, and I continued working with my carrier. Then the Towers fell. I was out at the time, transporting crates back to the kitchens, and I watched helplessly as it happened. Then they came and told me I was the Lord - the last remaining descendant of Lords past. They wanted me to only be their figurehead. I couldn't read nor write, not yet, and I had no idea what I was doing. Sometimes, I still don't. But I didn't want that. So I learned. And even though I'd much rather go back to scrubbing washracks 16 joor a cycle, I'd also rather my aft-headed advisors had no power, and Optimus needs me and the weight my title carries."

Spike stared a long moment, digesting everything he'd heard. "Why don't you just tell people that?"

Mirage turned to look at him with sad eyes. "No one has asked save you. Why would I open myself up to more criticism like that? Beside, the hurts caused by born nobles are still fresh. Maybe by hating me, they can heal. That's what I hope, at least, otherwise, well.... Exceeding those two factors, it must be me. And I don't know what else of me is left to stretch out in order to meet so many expectations."

Spike gaped a moment, trying to find the right words. "But you're clearly hurting, too."

Mirage smiled. "It's kind of you to notice."

"Everything okay here?"

Spiked whipped around to see Hound.

Mirage stood and stretched. "Perfectly fine," he said, pressing his nose to Hound's and inhaling deep. "Spike simply had some questions."

Hound's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "He's a good mech."

"I know," Spike said. "That's why I asked."

Hound nodded, satisfied, and turned back to Mirage. "Ready? I found the perfect spot."

"Lead the way," Mirage said, beaming.

The two of them left the room holding hands, and the minibots surrounded Spike once again.

"I am glad those two happened," Gears grumbled. "Hound definitely keeps him from getting too full of himself."

Spike pressed his lips together. "You shouldn't say things like that," he said. "It's his story to tell, but... You just shouldn't say things like that."

Brawn nodded. "Spike's right."

Gears looked at the two of them in shock, then nodded, still grumbling.

"Okay," Windcharger said, staring at Brawn. "Okay."


End file.
